The Battle of Ideas is a unique institution with its crowd of debating and discussing people. The diversity of themes is a great advantage of this event. It is a reminder for participants that not only today´s great “theme à la mode” is worth discussing, but hundreds of other themes as well. The Battle of Ideas is a modern agora for freedom of speech and freedom of thought. As founder of the European Cultural Parliament, ECP, the Pan-European forum for personalities from Culture, Arts and letters, I feel particularly at home at this London event, which I hope will spread across Europe and other parts of the world.
Karl-Erik Norrman, secretary general, ECP

Launched in September 2009 Free Word is an international centre for literature, literacy and free expression, hosting regular talks, screenings, and performances. Free Word’s mission is innovation and collaboration, pushing boundaries to promote, protect and democratise the power of the written and spoken word for creative and free expression. It aims to bring together organisations across literature, literacy and free expression to enhance their work and the profile of their sectors. Shreela Ghosh, Free Word’s director says “Freedom of Expression and social justice is central to Free Word’s vision. We are keen to collaborate with partners and the Institute of Ideas is a natural ally. This satellite event as part of the Battle of Ideas on the proposed changes to the legal aid system raises a number of questions about access and fairness which are definitely of interest to our audiences. Since Free Word was launched there have been several debates on the law and two of our founding partners, English PEN and Index on Censorship have been spearheading the Libel Reform Campaign.

Free Word Centre aims to be a national resource, with strong links to associates and partners throughout the UK and internationally. Ten organisations are based at Free Word: Apples & Snakes; Arvon;  ARTICLE l9; Booktrust; English PEN; Index on Censorship; the Reading Agency; The Literary Consultancy; Dalkey Archive Press and J-News. The first eight are founder organisations, part of the original consortium which helped evolve the concepts behind the Free Word Centre.

“Engineering and innovation have been major factors in the UK’s success for over two centuries. They are our lifeblood at Jaguar Land Rover and we fervently believe they can and must be nurtured throughout our economy if the country is to prosper in the future. So, we are delighted to support the focus on these important debates at Battle of Ideas.”

Paul Chadderon, Jaguar Land Rover

The idea of a Salon was developed in 17th and 18th Century France. Typically they were created and organised by the aristocratic ladies, to hear the ideas of the great thinkers of the time, to debate their meaning, for entertainment, because they believed ideas were important and because they wanted to know where the world was going, and of course to flirt. The Salon was central to the intellectual ferment of the end of 18th Century. They hosted the great thinkers of the time; Diderot, Rousseau, Voltaire. They were the scenes of excitement, outrage, and the shock of the new in a time when ‘the new’ still seemed possible. They signalled a time when the future was still an unwritten book.The East Midlands Salon is organised in homage to those days which only came to end with the eruption of the French Revolution and the arrival of a new constellation: the age of revolutions. Many historians think that Salons helped develop the ideas that ushered in that age.

The East Mildands Salon will meet on a monthy rotation between Derby and Nottingham

Tidskriften OPERA was launched in 1978.

It is the Nordic region’s only magazine specialising in opera and music drama, and is written for hardened opera buffs and the newly converted alike. OPERA covers the contemporary and the historical with breadth and depth.

BIG POTATOES: The London Manifesto for Innovation is a contribution to improving the climate for innovation globally, authored by Norman Lewis, Nico Macdonald, Alan Patrick, Martyn Perks, Mitchell Sava and James Woudhuysen. The Manifesto will be publicly launched shortly and, urgently, we want your responses to it.

Over the next few months with a number of partners we will also be hosting public discussions and debates around the themes of the Manifesto, including a launch event, in London and beyond. And during the forthcoming UK general election we will be challenging those who propose to lead us out of recession to respond to the Manifesto principles. Later in the year we will publish an updated Manifesto, having determined the scope of the challenge we face and started to change the culture around and climate for innovation globally.

Opera for all
We aim to make our opera profound yet accessible to everyone. We seek to reinvigorate and refresh the art of opera by coming close to our times, close to our audience and close to the story we tell. Opera is about daring to feel passionately, showing sumptuously and saying abundantly. We demonstrate that opera has an explosive power that our times need today.

NICE produces guidance on the most effective way to diagnose, treat and prevent disease and ill health. We do this by gathering evidence-based information on the effectiveness of new and existing treatments and technologies, and then exposing that evidence to the scrutiny of doctors, nurses, health technologists, patients and the public, who sit on our independent committees. This ensures that our guidance is effective, authoritative, and useful. We are often asked to make difficult decisions about how a healthcare system with a finite pot of money can best use its resources to provide good health for all, and it is in the spirit of this open and transparent debate that we are proud to be sponsors of the Battle of Ideas.

A public forum for debate where ideas are vigorously scrutinised and no topic is off limits.

The Economy Forum was launched as the Emerging Economies Forum in 2008. Since then it has expanded its remit to discuss economic issues more widely, with a particular focus on the problems with growth today.

The Forum seeks to challenge what are increasingly naturalised accounts of the economy: that the productive side of the economy is not susceptible to fundamental change; and that the major economic problems today are best viewed from the perspective of consumption.

Issues it explores include the concept of there being natural limits to economic growth, demographic challenges, sustainability, the need for innovation, the relationship of finance to the real economy, the role of the state, behavioural economics, the emerging economies, among many more.

The Battle of Ideas is a key event in the Forum calendar and meetings in the run up to the festival focus on the themes that will be debated there.

Angus Kennedy, IOI Economy Forum

The British Humanist Association acts on the basis of progressive and Enlightenment values, believing that we best make sense of the world using reason, experience and shared human values. We promote Humanism, campaign for an open society and a secular state, and work with others of different beliefs for the common good. We usually feel at home with the Institute of Ideas!

ENO’s fresh and multidisciplinary approach to opera underlines our belief that opera should resonate with contemporary society and, like all great art, make people think again about the world around us. The Battle of Ideas is a natural partner to challenge and explore, with ENO, the relevance of opera today.

Nadine Thompson, director of communications, ENO

“Engineering is a major driver in shaping Britain’s infrastructure and the health of the economy, but it also infuses almost every part of lives and therefore moulds the type of society and culture that we live in.  However, engineering and the engineers themselves are often hidden from public view; this is why The Royal Academy of Engineering is delighted to be partnering with this year’s Battle of Ideas festival to engage with a much wider audience and help raise awareness, debate and reflection on the impact of engineering on our world.”

Dr Lesley Paterson, Head of Public Engagement, The Royal Academy of Engineering.

The Battle of Ideas provides a fantastic forum for public debate, confronting the issues of the day head-on and proving the appetite for a refreshing and rigorous exchange of ideas. 

Suzanne Hewitt, director, Hotwire PR

Fundação Caixa Geral de Depósitos - CULTURGEST - is very honoured to have been chosen by the Institute of Ideas to be their partner in Lisbon on a Satellite Event of this years Battle of Ideas on the very challenging issue of “Just what are the arts good for?”. As a cultural centre devoted to presenting a wide variety of artistic events, this problem is at the heart of our mission. We believe that a provocative and meaningful debate about the “utility” of the arts is important to improve the knowledge and the practice of artists, public, critics, curators, cultural agents, politicians, as well as of everyone interested in cultural matters.

Miguel Lobo Antunes, Administrator of CULTURGEST

We believe strongly that nothing is too controversial to discuss; in fact, the more controversial the issue, the more we insist on and support talking about it. Clearly that is an approach that we share with the Battle of Ideas and explains why we are delighted to partner with them for this year’s conference.

David J Nolan, director of communications, Catholics for Choice

The Young Journalists’ Academy is a scheme run by Journalism Education, a not-for-profit organisation. The main YJA programme is a journalism summer school, held in August in Canary Wharf. Our other activities include school visits by YJA staff, the YJA alumni programme and the YJA ambassador scheme.

Social policy is apparently everywhere these days, embedded in everything from soap opera storylines to arts funding criteria. Yet, for all its pervasiveness in our culture, it is rarely discussed in its own terms. This is a problem because instead of policy makers trying to find ways to better meet people’s needs, they are more likely to be found promoting behavioural change or advocating intrusive interventions into people’s lives. The Social Policy Forum aims to challenge social policy by stealth, while taking a closer look at some key policy debates on everything from housing, social care and welfare, to the reforms of local government and public services.

Leeds Salon is a discussion group founded in early 2009 by Michele Ledda and Paul Thomas, inspired by similar initiatives they had attended and, in particular, their participation in the Institute of Ideas & Pfizer sixth-form debating competition Debating Matters.

The aim of Leeds Salon is to establish a public forum for debate around contemporary political, cultural and scientific issues and, hopefully, challenge any orthodoxies along the way. Writers, academics and experts in their field are invited to present their ideas and to have them debated and held up to scrutiny by the audience. The Salons are lively, informal and open to all.

We are also interested in suggestions for debate and establishing fraternal links with other debating organisations in West Yorkshire and beyond.

Blackwell University Bookshop is Manchester’s leading academic bookstore. We stock cult fiction, graphic novels, cookery and craft books, along with best sellers and new titles. Blackwell offers the widest range of academic books: our dedicated subject specialists will source any book for you. We stock text books for the Manchester universities, as well as HSE/TSO publications. We also do Ordnance Survey mapping. No request is too small or too big. Pop in now to our Oxford Road shop, ring 0161 274 3331 or email us: manchester@blackwell.co.uk.

Sheffield Doc/Fest believes in the power of ideas that can bring together the different disciplines working inside and outside of the documentary industry. We also believe in how challenging and breaking down preconceived ideas can create more vibrant and resilient concepts. This, combined with our commitment to presenting high-quality well-produced sessions, means that the Institute of Ideas is a perfect partner for us in thumbing a nose at the status quo.

Campbell Glennie, Marketing and Business Director, Sheffield Doc/Fest